What the Eastern Washington University football team overcame
last week, it will have to overcome even more this week.

The injury-riddled Eagles picked up their first win of the
season last week with a gut-check 27-21 victory over Weber State,
but now look for their first road victory when EWU plays at a
well-rested Northern Arizona team this Saturday (Oct. 8).

Kickoff is 3:05 p.m. Pacific time at the Walkup Skydome in a
game matching the 1-4 Eagles versus the 2-2 Lumberjacks. Eastern is
1-2 in the Big Sky Conference and NAU is 1-1.

The radio broadcast of the game, featuring play-by-play
announcer Larry Weir, may be heard on 700-AM ESPN "The Ticket", via
the web at www.espnnorthwest.com and via
iPhone application (search for “Spokane Radio” and
download the free app). It will also be televised regionally by Fox
College Sports.

The Lumberjacks had a bye last week, and haven’t played
since beating Idaho State 20-3 on Sept. 24. Northern Arizona opened
the season with a 41-10 victory at Arizona, beat Fort Lewis 58-13
and then fell at Portland State 31-29 on Sept. 17.

Last year, Eastern beat Weber State 35-24 in Ogden in the first
of 11-straight victories on Eastern’s way to the NCAA
Division I Championship. Now, the Eagles are hoping this
year’s triumph over the Wildcats will catapult them to a
seven-game streak to end the season for EWU to have any hopes of
advancing to the FCS Playoffs for the sixth time in the past eight
seasons.

But Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin refuses to
look that far ahead. Eastern played its first three games on the
road and lost all three, then suffered a 36-21 home loss to fellow
defending Big Sky co-champion Montana State on Oct. 1.

Eastern leads the all-time series against NAU 18-10, including
an 8-6 mark in Flagstaff. The Eagles have won the last three
meetings at the Walkup Skydome, averaging nearly 48 points per game
(49-45 in 2009, 52-24 in 2007 and 42-14 in 2005).

“We’re excited to go play another football
game,” Baldwin said. “We’re not worried about
anything but NAU and what we need to do to prepare for that
game. And again, our mindset is going to be that if we want
to put ourselves in a position to win, it’s going to have to
be a great week. So we are going to take that approach this week
and there’s one thing on our mind: NAU.”

With wide receiver Brandon Kaufman (broken
metacarpal in his left hand), cornerback Alden
Gibbs (broken thumb) and linebacker Zach
Johnson (knee) the latest casualties, Eastern is reeling
from a rash of injuries that has reached epidemic proportions.
Eight starters already have suffered injuries that have kept them
out of the lineup – including four players lost for the
season. In fact, only one offensive lineman – senior tackle
Gabriel Jackson – has started all five
Eastern games, as a total of nine players have started this season
along the offensive line.

Nevertheless, the Eagles have out-gained opponents in three of
five games thus far, but are behind 12-5 in the turnover
department.

A week after out-gaining Washington 504-250 in total offense,
Eastern had a 380-324 edge versus South Dakota. However, the
Coyotes rushed for a back-breaking 230 yards, compared to a paltry
11 yards for EWU, which was equally back-breaking. Eastern had 376
total yards – including 139 rushing -- versus Montana, and
held UM to 34 yards passing. But the Grizzlies had 316 of their 350
yards on the ground – the first time Eastern has surrendered
300 rushing yards in a game since the 2009 season-opener against
California when the Bears finished with 342. Eastern had a 315-287
advantage in total offense through three quarters versus Montana
State, but ended up getting out-gained 416-371.

Against Weber State, Eastern opened a 24-7 lead – and a
267-99 advantage in total offense -- before Weber State rallied in
the second half. Eastern sealed the victory when Charles
Moetului forced a fumble with 21 seconds left that was
pounced on immediately by teammate Anthony Larry
after the Wildcats had driven to the EWU 17-yard line. Eastern
finished with a 377-359 disadvantage in total offense, but was
11-of-15 on third down compared to 7-of-15 for the Wildcats.

Eastern returns 15 starters from last year’s team that
finished with a school-record 13 wins and just two losses. Twelve
Eagle players garnered preseason honors, including seven who
received All-America honors at the NCAA FCS level. Those players
include quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, wide
receiver Brandon Kaufman, center Chris
Powers and tackle Gabriel Jackson on
offense, and safety Matt Johnson, linebacker
Zach Johnson and tackle Renard
Williams on defense.

GAME NOTES

Mitchell,
Edwards, Team Passing are In Top Seven in NCAA
Statistics

Eastern’s passing game, featuring quarterback Bo
Levi Mitchell and wide receiver Nicholas
Edwards, rank in the top seven this week in NCAA Football
Championship Subdivision statistics. Mitchell is sixth in passing
yards (324.6 yards per game) and is seventh in total offense
(317.6), and Edwards is third in receptions per game (8.6 with a
total of 43). Receiver Brandon Kaufman is 11th in
receiving (7.25 with 29 total), and Edwards and Kaufman are 11th
and 14th, respectively, in receiving yards per game (96.2 and
93.3). Jake Miller is 15th in FCS in punting
(42.17 per punt), helping Eastern rank eighth nationally in net
punting (39.06).

The Eagles are ranked seventh in the NCAA Football Championship
Subdivision in passing offense (324.6 yards per game), but are also
just 112th out of 121 FCS teams in rushing offense (73.4). Eastern
is 34th overall in total offense (398.0) and 78th in scoring
(21.2). Defensively, Eastern is 47th in FCS in total defense,
allowing an average of 343.4 yards per game. Eastern is sixth in
passing defense (129.4), 106th in rushing defense (214.0) and 68th
in scoring defense (26.8). With seven sacks in its last two games,
Eastern now ranks 25th nationally (2.6 per game). The Eagles,
however, are just 109th in turnover margin (-1.4 per game) after
ranking 17th in FCS last year and sixth in 2009.

Northern Arizona is ranked 10th in total offense in FCS,
averaging 442.0 yards per game. The Lumberjacks are 25th in passing
(254.3), 29th in rushing (187.8) and 41st in scoring (29.3).
Defensively, NAU ranks 49th in total defense (344.3), 40th in
rushing defense (128.0), 69th in passing defense (216.3) and 32nd
in scoring (22.0). In addition, the Lumberjacks have the top
average per kickoff return in FCS (35.1), led by the nation’s
leading individual kickoff returner in Jamaal Perkins (40.7 with a
touchdown). Isaac Bond has five sacks to rank sixth nationally
(1.25 per game), and quarterback Cary Grossart is ninth in passing
efficiency (155.95) and 40th in total offense (229.5). Matt Meyers
has kicked seven field goals to rank seventh (1.75 per game).

Anthony Larry
Co-Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week

Capping an impressive game by Eastern’s entire defensive
line, sophomore backup defensive end Anthony Larry
was selected as the Big Sky Conference co-Defensive Player of the
Week for games played on Oct. 1, becoming the first Eagle to be
honored by the league in 2011.

Larry, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound graduate of Luther Burbank High
School (2009) in Sacramento, Calif., had the game-clinching fumble
recovery with 21 seconds left in EWU’s 27-21 victory over
Weber State last Saturday (Oct. 1). The Wildcats were at the
Eastern Washington 23-yard line and in position for a game-winning
touchdown when teammate Charles Moetului forced
WSU quarterback Mike Hoke to fumble, and Larry quickly pounced on
the ball. Larry finished the game with six tackles – one for
loss – a quarterback hurry and the fumble recovery. He has 14
tackles, including a pair of sacks on the season.

Collectively, Eastern’s defensive line was selected as
EWU’s defensive player of the week, and finished the WSU game
with four sacks and three quarterback hurries. Senior All-American
Renard Williams had a sack and two of the hurries.
With seven sacks in its last two games, Eastern now ranks 25th in
the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (2.6 per game).

Talley on
Inaugural Jerry Rice Award Watch List

Eastern true freshman running back Jordan Talley is one of 15
players on the inaugural Jerry Rice Award Watch List, which was
announced on Sept 28.

The Rice Award, presented by The Sports Network and sponsored by
Fathead.com, will honor the outstanding freshman in the Football
Championship Subdivision. A national panel of sports information
and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other
dignitaries will select the award winner after the regular season.
The legendary Rice, who played in the FCS at Mississippi Valley
State, will present the award at the national awards banquet on
Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas.

Talley is a 5-foot-10, 180-pound running back from Jesuit High
School in Portland, Ore. He recorded back-to-back 100-yard rushing
games, starting with 114 yards on 19 carries in a 17-14 loss to
Montana on Sept. 17. In the first start of his career on Sept. 24
versus Montana State, he gained 108 yards on 19 carries with two
touchdowns.

In five games thus far, Talley has 68 carries for 300 yards and
two touchdowns, and 13 catches for 67 yards.

Mike Jarrett
Two Extra Points From School Records

Senior kicker Mike Jarrett is nearing school
records for extra points made and attempted, as he ranks second in
school history in both categories. He is 116-of-122 in his career,
ranking only behind the 120-of-126 performance by Troy Griggs from
1999-01. Jarrett has scored 192 points to rank eighth all-time at
EWU (fourth among kickers), including 22 field goals (sixth) and 37
field goals attempted (sixth).

This season, Jarrett has made 7-of-8 field goals with a long of
46, and has made all 11 of his extra point attempts. His brother,
Bryan, was an All-Big Sky Conference safety for the Eagles in 2005
and 2007 after transferring from Western Washington University.

Eagles Go From
Seldom Leading to Seldom Trailing

Eastern led nearly the entire way in its 27-21 victory over
Weber State on Oct. 1, but leads were extremely rare in EWU’s
first four games. Eastern led 10-7 for a total of 4:49 in the first
and second quarters against Washington on Sept. 3, and 14-10 versus
Montana State for 3:52 in the second quarter. Against WSU, Eastern
took the lead for good with 5:27 left in the first quarter and took
a 24-7 lead at halftime, then held on in the second half for the
win.

Record-Tying
18th Interception Proves to Be Elusive for
Johnson

The next interception senior safety Matt
Johnson gets will be a record-breaker, and he very nearly
had a game-clinching pick against Weber State on Oct. 1. On a
fourth-and-23 Hail-Mary pass play late in the game, Johnson had the
ball barely sail over his outstretched hands for a 51-yard
completion for the Wildcats. Eastern, however, forced a fumble with
27 seconds left to preserve the 27-21 victory.

Johnson now ranks second in school history in interceptions with
17, and he is just one interception away from the school record of
18 set by Mike Richter from 1971-75. He is currently tied with
former NFL 10-year veteran Kurt Schulz (EWU letter winner 1988-91)
and long-time Canadian Football League standout Jackie Kellogg
(1990-93), who both have 17 each. Johnson is also only nine
interception return yards from the record of 219 held by Schulz,
and his six career forced fumbles is tied for the school record
along with J.C. Sherritt (2007-10) and Chris Scott (1994-97).

Matt has 324 tackles in his career to move into sixth all-time
at Eastern – just five from moving into fifth (Joey Cwik had
331 from 2002-05). Johnson had five interceptions in 2010 to help
Eastern lead the FCS with 26. So far this season, Johnson has two
interceptions and is second on the team in tackles with 35.

Williams Up to
20 Career Sacks

Eastern defensive tackle Renard Williams had
his first sack of the year against Montana State on Sept. 24 and
added another a week later versus Weber State, giving him 20 in his
career to rank eighth in school history. Constantly drawing double
teams from opposing teams, Williams has 129 tackles in his 43-game
career, including 44 for losses totaling 218 yards.

Williams finished with 6 1/2 in the 2010 season to repeat as an
All-Big Sky selection and earn All-America honors in the process,
as he was selected to the College Sports News “Sweet
63” All-America Team. He had a two-sack effort against North
Dakota State on Dec. 11 for the fourth multi-sack performance of
his career. He had nine sacks to earn first-team All-Big Sky
Conference honors in 2009.

Zach Johnson
to Miss Rest of the Season with Recurring Knee
Injury

For the second time in three seasons, linebacker Zach
Johnson will have a season cut short because of the same
knee injury, Eastern head football coach Beau
Baldwin announced on Sept. 27.

The senior co-captain has been playing this season with a
chronic tear in his left patellar tendon, but the pain became too
much to tolerate and he had surgery on Sept. 29. It’s the
same injury that required surgery to repair on June 30, 2009.
However, Johnson missed the entire 2009 season after a blood clot
developed in his leg following the surgery.

Baldwin said Johnson and EWU will appeal to the NCAA in the
offseason to grant him a sixth year to complete his four years of
eligibility. He will eventually have at least 19 games wiped out
because of injuries -- 12 in 2009 and seven remaining regular
season games this season.

“He just needed to get it done,” said Baldwin of the
surgery. “The silver lining is that he has a very good
possibility of getting a sixth year and playing next season. I know
he’s going to continue to be a great captain this season by
encouraging and helping his teammates.”

Through four games he was tied for the team lead in tackles with
30. He has started all 30 games he has played as an Eagle, with 260
career tackles to rank 10th in school history. A second-team
All-Big Sky Conference selection in 2010 and a preseason
All-American this season, Johnson’s average of 8.7 tackles
per game is fourth-best in school history.

“Zach is a great football player and will be
missed,” added Baldwin. “But that’s football, and
all the injuries we’ve been dealing with this season are part
of the game. Every year is different in those regards and we feel
bad for Zach, as well as our other injured players. But we’re
excited about the opportunity it provides for somebody else to step
up into that role.”

Johnson’s twin brother, Matt Johnson, has
also started every game he has played as an Eagle. The Johnson
twins are both 2007 graduates of Tumwater, Wash., High School.

Eagles Lose
Running Backs Coach

Chris Hansen, the running backs coach for Eastern, is no longer
on the football coaching staff, EWU head coach Beau
Baldwin announced on Sept. 30. Baldwin said the
team’s other coaches will absorb Hansen’s duties until
the end of the current season. Hansen has been a part of the EWU
program for a total of 13 years since the mid-1980’s, and in
recent years has coached running backs (2009-11), tight ends (2008)
and cornerbacks (2003-07). A 1979 graduate of Liberty High School
in Spangle, Wash., Hansen received his bachelor’s degree from
Eastern in secondary education in 1991. He received his
master’s degree from Gonzaga University in 1996, and then
returned to Eastern in 2002 as a volunteer assistant coach.

A Win, But No
Winning Rallies Yet For Eagles

Although the Eagles finally have a win to their credit, Eastern
hasn’t been able to produce the magic that propelled the
Eagles to the 2010 NCAA Division I title.

Eastern came an interception away -- with 29 seconds left --
from upsetting Washington on Sept. 3, then a week later failed to
rally from a 21-0 deficit in a 30-17 loss to South Dakota. Eastern
trailed by 10 against the Coyotes and was driving for a score in
the fourth quarter, but an interception and 66-yard return was the
big blow in squelching that EWU comeback attempt.

Eastern fell behind 10-0 to the Grizzlies, but rallied to pull
within three points in the fourth quarter. The 10th-ranked Eagles
held No. 12 Montana scoreless on its final five possessions of the
game, but Eastern was unable to score in its last three. An
interception with 25 seconds to play iced the win for the
Grizzlies.

And Eastern pulled to within 26-21 early in the fourth quarter
versus Montana State, but the Bobcats scored the final 10 points of
the game and out-gained the Eagles 129-56 in the final stanza.

Eastern out-gained Washington 504-250 in total offense, but lost
the turnover battle 4-0 and narrowly lost to the Huskies 30-27 in
front of 58,088 fans at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Wash. The Eagles
had a chance to win the game, but Washington’s Desmond
Trufant – the younger brother of former Eagle Isaiah Trufant
– intercepted a pass in the end zone with 29 seconds left to
ruin Eastern’s upset bid. The loss spoiled a remarkable
performance by senior quarterback Bo Levi
Mitchell, who had the second-most passing yards in school
history with 473.

A year ago, Eastern was no stranger to narrow victories. In nine
of their wins last season, the Eagles trailed or were tied in the
fourth quarter of six of them, in one they trailed in the third
quarter and in the other two they were scoreless in the final
stanza. Included was a 20-19 victory in the national championship
game when the Eagles rallied from a 19-0 deficit to score three
touchdowns in the final 16:48.

2010
All-America Recap

Six Eagles earned All-America honors in 2010, including four who
returned for the 2011 season. Junior wide receiver Brandon
Kaufman was honored as a sophomore, while center
Chris Powers, safety Matt Johnson
and defensive lineman Renard Williams earned
All-America accolades as juniors.

Kaufman was selected to the College Sports News “Sweet
63” All-America Team and the Phil Steele Publications
All-America fourth team. Johnson was also on the “Sweet
63” squad, and earned second-team honors from Phil Steele and
third team accolades from the Sports Network. Powers was a
first-team choice by the Sports Network and picked to the Phil
Steele third team. Williams, a two-time first-team All-Big Sky
Conference selection, was selected to the “Sweet 63”
squad.

In addition, quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell was
selected as the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Division I
Championship game, and Kaufman was chosen by the College Sporting
News as its playoffs MVP.

Head coach Beau Baldwin received numerous
national accolades as well, including the College Sporting News
Coach of the Year and the same honor from the American Football
Monthly. He was on the voting list for the 2010 Eddie Robinson
Award presented by The Sports Network, and was a finalist for the
Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year award.

The only two departed All-Americans were running back
Taiwan Jones and linebacker J.C.
Sherritt, who won the 2010 Buck Buchanan Award presented
by The Sports Network to the top defensive player in the NCAA
Football Championship Subdivision. Sherritt was also selected to
six different All-America teams as a first-team selection, and was
the College Sporting News Defensive Player of the Year and the Big
Sky Defensive MVP.

Jones, who had a year of eligibility remaining but declared
himself eligible for the NFL Draft, finished fourth in the voting
for the 2010 Walter Payton Award presented by The Sports Network to
the top offensive player in the FCS. He was also selected to five
different All-America teams as a first-team selection, and was the
Phil Steele Publications FCS Offensive Player of the Year, the
College Football Performance Awards Running Back of the Year and
the Big Sky Offensive MVP.

In addition, the Inland Northwest Sportswriters and Broadcasters
(SWABS) selected Eastern as its Team of the Year, Baldwin as its
Coach of the Year and Sherritt as the Male Amateur Athlete of the
Year.

A total of 19 players were honored, including eight seniors.
Entering the 2010 season, only five players returned who had earned
All-Big Sky honors the year before.

Eastern
Returns 30 Players With Combined 335 Starts

The Eagles return 30 players with a combined 335 starts between
them entering the 2011 season. Of Eastern’s 19 letter winners
lost, 13 combined for 191 starts -- including 22 by Taiwan
Jones, who left EWU early to declare himself eligible for
the NFL Draft.

There were 15 players with starting experience returning on both
offense and defense, with 168 total starts on defense and 167 on
offense. By contrast, a total of 24 players with starting
experience (total of 196 starts) returned for the 2010 season.

Here are the current number of career starts by Eastern players
on the 2011 roster.

Six Eagles made the first starts of their careers versus
Washington on Sept. 3, including just two on offense and four on
defense.

On offense, sophomore Ashton Miller started at
right guard, but his debut had a horrible finish. As he was helping
Eastern toward a convincing 504-250 advantage in total offense, he
suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon that will sideline him for the
rest of the season. He is from Vancouver, Wash., and graduated from
Evergreen High School in 2009.

The other starting debut on offense was by offensive tackle
Caleb Worthington, who was an injury replacement
for injured starter Will Post. Worthington is a
sophomore from Boise, Idaho, and graduated from Mountain View High
School in 2007. All other offensive players had made at least one
start in their careers.

On defense, a pair of senior cornerbacks made their starting
debuts – Jeremy Chaten and Alden
Gibbs. Chaten is a 2007 graduate of Seattle’s
Franklin High School, and Gibbs is a former Eastern basketball
player in just his second season of collegiate football. He is from
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Senior Charles Moetului started at defensive
tackle in his first start in the 30th collegiate game of his
career. Senior Bobby Gentry played in his 36th
career game, and made the first start of his career at weak-side
outside linebacker. Moetului is a 2007 graduate of Mount Si High
School and is from North Bend, Wash., while Gentry is a 2007
graduate of Seattle’s Kennedy HS. Eastern’s strong-side
linebacker position was manned by junior Grant
Williams, who started once before as a fullback in 2009
but made his first start on defense versus UW. He is a 2008
graduate of Rogers High School in Puyallup, Wash.

Against South Dakota on Sept. 10, cornerback T.J.
Lee and offensive guard Jase Butorac made
their first career starts. Lee is a 2009 graduate of West Seattle
High School. Butorac and defensive linemen Evan
Day are both 2010 graduates of Skyline High School in
Sammamish. Day had his first career sack and forced fumble versus
the Huskies, and had another sack the following week versus South
Dakota.

Washington transfer Demitrius Bronson made his
Eagle debut on Sept. 3 against Washington after playing previously
for the Huskies. The 2008 graduate of Kentwood High School in Kent,
Wash., made the first start of his career at Montana on Sept. 17.
Also making his starting debut against the Grizzlies was sophomore
linebacker Ronnie Hamlin, a 2009 graduate of
Timberline High School in Lacey, Wash. After missing his redshirt
freshman season with a knee injury, Hamlin had a team-leading eight
tackles in his collegiate debut versus the Huskies, four against
South Dakota and seven in his starting debut at Montana.

Because of injuries, Drew Reynolds received his
first career start against Montana State on Sept. 24. He is a 2009
graduate of Foss High School in Tacoma, Wash., and his older
brother, Levi, lettered as a senior for the Eagles in 2010. True
freshman running back Jordan Talley rushed for 114
yards against Montana on Sept. 17, and a week later received his
first career start versus MSU. A 2011 graduate of Jesuit High
School in Portland, Ore., Talley rushed for 108 yards and two
touchdowns in his starting debut.

The most unlikely starting debut occurred on Oct. 1 against
Weber State when converted tight end Patrick
Mealey received his first career start – at center.
When All-America starter Chris Powers was
sidelined with a knee injury against MSU, Mealey was inserted into
the lineup because all three of the backups for Powers were also
sidelined with injuries and lost for the season. Mealey is a 2008
graduate of Central Valley High School in Spokane, Wash. He
redshirted at Idaho in 2008, played seven games for the Vandals in
2009 and then lettered as a reserve tight end for the Eagles in
2010.

Washington State transfer Jake Miller and Boise
State transfer Jimmy Pavel saw their first action
as Eastern’s punter and kickoff specialist, respectively, in
Eastern’s opener against Washington.

Turnovers a
Key to Eagle Success

Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin has continually
preached the importance of turnover margin, and the Eagles took it
to heart in the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

But this year, so far, the Eagles are down 12-5 in that
department and have given up 37 points off turnovers, while scoring
10 off the turnovers they’ve forced. Out of 121 teams in the
NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, Eastern is just 109th in
turnover margin (-1.4 per game) after ranking 17th in FCS last year
and sixth in 2009.

Eastern dominated Washington in total offense 504-250, but lost
the turnover battle 4-0 as the Huskies capitalized with two short
touchdown drives coming after turnovers by EWU’s punt return
unit. An interception also led to a Husky field goal, and UW
clinched the win with an interception in the end zone with 29
seconds left. South Dakota returned an interception for a
touchdown, then turned another interception into a 66-yard return
and eventually a field goal that gave the Coyotes a 13-point lead.
Eastern had two interceptions and intercepted one versus Montana on
Sept. 17, then a week later both teams had two turnovers in the
MSU-EWU game. Eastern had two interceptions on Oct. 1 agaisnt Weber
State, which had its first and only miscue on its final offensive
play of the game with 21 seconds to go to preserve EWU’s
27-21 victory.

In 2010, the Eagles ranked first nationally in interceptions
(total of 26) and turnovers gained (47), and finished 17th
nationally in turnover margin (.80 less turnovers per game than its
opponents) after ranking sixth in 2009 (1.25 less).

In the last two years, Eastern is 14-0 when it has fewer
turnovers than its opponent. In 2010, the Eagles were 8-0 (11-0
including ties in turnovers with Sacramento State, Portland State
and Delaware) after going 6-0 in 2009 when it won the turnover
battle. In those 14 games, Eastern has had a 55-19 advantage in
turnovers (33-15 in 2010 and 22-4 in 2009).

To illustrate its importance, in four-straight games in the 2010
FCS Playoffs, Eastern played a team ranked in the top seven
nationally in turnover margin and significantly higher than the
Eagles. Yet, Eastern forced more turnovers in those four games (13)
than it committed (10).

“It’s right there in front of you,” said
Baldwin. “When you start getting into the playoffs and look
at the teams that made it that far, you see what they all have in
common are really good turnover margins. That is still the
statistic that means the most to us, and it’s what we stress
the most to the team. It determines your win-loss record more than
any other statistic. It’s something we emphasize on both
sides of the ball, and we’ll hit upon it in the spring and
again in the fall. You have to try to simulate it and mentally get
it into your head during practices. You have to work on drills, but
as much as anything, it has to be such a focus mentally that you
believe you are going to win that battle
week-after-week.”

The Eagles also averaged more than two giveaways per game in the
2010 season – 19 fumbles and 16 interceptions for a total of
35.

“Even though we won the national title, we lacked in some
areas,” Baldwin explained. “One of them was our ball
security. We ended with a really good turnover margin, but that was
because we led the nation in interceptions and takeaways. But the
giveaway part on offense and special teams is something we need to
improve on.”

Injury
Report

With wide receiver Brandon Kaufman (broken
metacarpal on his left hand), cornerback Alden
Gibbs (broken thumb) and linebacker Zach
Johnson (knee) the latest casualties, Eastern is reeling
from a rash of injuries that has reached epidemic
proportions. Johnson and three offensive linemen have already
been lost for the season, and a total of eight starters have
suffered injuries that have kept them out of the lineup. In fact,
only one offensive lineman – senior tackle Gabriel
Jackson – has started all five Eastern games, as a
total of nine players have started this season along the offensive
line.

Eastern’s offensive line is the hardest hit, with
All-America senior center Chris Powers (knee) the
latest casualty. He missed most of Eastern’s game versus
Montana State and will be out about a month, as he became the fifth
Eastern starting offensive lineman to miss action already this year
because of injuries. Converted tight end Patrick
Mealey took his place, as MSU finished with six sacks and
three quarterback hurries. Mealey made an unlikely starting debut
on Oct. 1 against Weber State because all three of the backups for
Powers were also sidelined with injuries and lost for the
season.

Starting guards Steven Forgette (broken fibula)
and Jase Butorac (knee sprain) suffered injuries
against Montana on Sept. 17 and are lost for the season. Butorac
was already taking the place of Ashton Miller, who
was lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon in
EWU’s opener against Washington. In the middle of the UM
game, Eastern pulled former offensive lineman Brandon
Murphy away from the defensive line to fill-in for
Butorac. Murphy started against Montana State and will now remain
on the offensive line for the remainder of the season. Sophomore
Drew Reynolds filled in for Forgette and made his
Eagle starting debut against MSU.

Tackle Will Post (ankle), who missed
EWU’s first two games, fortunately returned to play versus
the Grizzlies. Miller is a 2009 graduate of Evergreen High School
in Vancouver, Wash., and was making his first-ever start for the
Eagles in the game versus the Huskies, in which EWU outgained UW in
total offense 504-250.

“It’s really interesting with the offensive line, to
say the least,” said Eastern head coach Beau
Baldwin. “I’m just so proud of the players
that have stepped in there. I mean we’re talking about a guy
who stepped in from tight end to play center. Do you know the
difficulty of that? It’s unreal. And then we’ve got a
couple other guys switching positions, whether that be tackle to
guard or defensive tackle to guard. It’s not easy. I’ve
been proud of those guys, but it’s a challenge.”

Besides the offensive line, Eastern has also had to deal with
several injuries at linebacker. Zach Johnson
continued to play on his injured knee, but saw limited action
versus Montana State before hanging it up for the season. His
backup, Bobby Gentry (bicep) played sparingly
against MSU and the next game versus Weber State. True freshman
linebacker Cody McCarthy had arthroscopic knee
surgery during the preseason and made his Eagle debut versus
Montana on Sept. 17, but since then has seen significant
action.

Receiver/returner Tyler Hart (knee) missed
EWU’s first three games, but returned to catch a nine-yard
pass versus Montana State. He also entered the year expected to be
Eastern’s punt returner, and his absence versus the Huskies
hurt EWU. Eastern’s punt return unit had two turnovers and a
mental error late in the game.

Eastern
Entered 2011 Season 8-0 at the
“Inferno”

Eastern is now 1-1 at home this season, giving them a 9-1
all-time record on the red Sprinturf surface at the
“Inferno.” Eastern’s first-ever loss on the red
rug came to fourth-ranked Montana State on Sept. 24, 2011, by a
36-21 score, but the Eagles rebounded the next week for a 27-21 win
over Weber State.

Finishing 8-0 at home in the 2010 season, the Eagles were the
first Eastern team to go undefeated at Roos Field (formerly
Woodward Field) since 1999 when EWU was 4-0. But it wasn’t
easy -- in two games the Eagles trailed in the fourth quarter
(Sacramento State, North Dakota State), in two they were tied in
the final stanza (Montana and Southern Utah) and in another game
the Eagles were scoreless in the fourth (Northern Arizona). They
capped the unbeaten season with a 41-31 victory over Villanova on
Dec. 17 in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs.

“We feel like we had a home field advantage in the
2010 season, and our goal was to go undefeated at home,” said
Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin.

Other years Eastern was unbeaten at its current stadium site in
Cheney came in 1997 (6-0), 1979 (5-0), 1974 (3-0) and 1967 (4-0).
The 1985 team was 4-0 and the 1984 squad was 5-0 when all of
EWU’s home games were played at Albi Stadium in Spokane. In
1982, Eastern was 5-0 at home -- 3-0 in Cheney and 2-0 in Spokane.
In 1966, the year before Roos Field (formerly Woodward Field)
opened for the first time, Eastern was 4-0-1 at Albi.

Eastern had a successful debut on its new red synthetic
Sprinturf surface Sept. 18 in Cheney, Wash., defeating rival
Montana 36-27 in the first game at Roos Field (formerly Woodward
Field). Eastern scored the go-ahead points with four seconds left
on a 31-yard field goal by Mike Jarrett, then
added a fumble return for a touchdown on the final play to create
bedlam after a record crowd of 11,702 attended the game against the
12-time defending league champions.

Eastern followed that with a 21-14 victory over Northern Arizona
three weeks later on Oct. 9, needing a huge defensive effort in the
fourth quarter to hold-off the Lumberjacks. The Eagles had five
turnovers in the game and NAU had 30 more offensive plays and a
10-minute edge in time of possession, but EWU stopped NAU three
times on downs in its final three possessions of the game. Those
drives ended at the Eastern 36, 3 and 38 yard lines, with 17:45,
11:33 and 3:37 left in the game.

The third victory was just as suspenseful, as Eastern led 21-0
early in the second quarter against Sacramento State on Oct. 23,
but was out-scored 24-0 to fall behind mid-way through the fourth
quarter. But the Eagles responded with a key defensive stop that
was highlighted by a third down sack by sophomore defensive end
Paul Ena followed by a 35-yard scoring drive that
was capped by a Brandon Kaufman 6-yard touchdown
catch from Bo Levi Mitchell with 33 seconds to
play.

The fourth win was also a great escape, this time by a 31-24
score over Southern Utah on Nov. 13. Eastern was out-gained in
total offense 484-366, and was shredded for 434 passing yards. But
Eastern survived to win thanks to a pair of scoring plays of at
least 62 yards, two huge touchdown catches by Brandon
Kaufman, two interceptions in the last six minutes by
Jesse Hoffman and a 4-1 advantage in the turnover department.
Kaufman scored the winning points with 3:39 to play.

Finally, the Eagles had a breather against Idaho State in a 34-7
win. Tied at seven early in the second quarter, Eastern scored
three touchdowns in the last 12:01 of the quarter -- all on
touchdown passes from Bo Levi Mitchell. The Eagles
led 28-7 at halftime and added a pair of field goals in the second
half while holding the Bengals scoreless.

In the playoffs, a 37-17 win over Southeast Missouri State saw
the Eagles out-score the Redhawks 20-0 in the second half after the
game was tied 17-all at halftime. Against North Dakota State in the
quarterfinals, the Eagles had to put together a 90-yard drive to
tie the game with 23 seconds left, then won it in overtime with a
25-yard touchdown pass on the first play. A Bison fumble at
EWU’s 1-yard line ended the game. The Eagles scored 20
unanswered points to take a 20-7 lead versus Villanova in the
semifinals on Dec. 17, and they never trailed or were tied after
that.

“It’s only the beginning, but we’re very
happy to have it,” said Baldwin of EWU’s home-field
advantage. “It’s something that our players have really
grabbed onto as their own. It’s their home and they take
pride in it.”

Eastern finished just off the pace to set the single season
attendance record, with an average of 6,473 fans per game that
ranks sixth in school history. Included was a Roos Field record
crowd of 11,702 against Montana on Sept. 18. That crowd broke the
previous school record of 11,583 set in a 2006 game versus the
Grizzlies, helping the Eagles to an average that ranks just behind
the record of 7,116 fans per game set in 2006.

10 Former
Eagles Currently in the NFL or CFL

Eastern has four former players currently playing in the
National Football League and another six currently in the Canadian
Football League.

A newcomer in the NFL is running back Taiwan Jones (Oakland
Raiders), who rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown in his debut in a
preseason game on Aug. 28 against New Orleans. A veteran in the NFL
is offensive tackle Michael Roos (Tennessee Titans), who now has
167 consecutive starts (through 10/2/11) dating back to his 2002
season at EWU. The third is cornerback Isaiah Trufant, who is back
with the New York Jets -- a team he started his NFL career with in
2009. And tight end Nathan Overbay is now on the practice squad for
the Detroit Lions.

After being waived by the Philadelphia Eagles on Aug. 30,
Trufant flew home to the Seattle area, but was then signed by the
Jets. Though he made New York’s initial 53-man roster after
final cuts, he was waived Sept. 4 before being signed to the
practice squad the following day. He was activated to the 53-man
roster 24 hours before NBC’s Sunday night national telecast
of New York’s season opener versus Dallas on Sept. 11. He had
two tackles, and returned a blocked punt 18 yards for a touchdown
that knotted the score at 24 with 5:08 left in the 27-24 Jets win.
Trufant’s older brother, Marcus, plays for the Seattle
Seahawks and his younger brother, Desmond, plays for Washington.
Desmond had the victory-clinching interception in the end zone with
29 seconds left in EWU’s 30-27 loss to the Huskies.

The week prior to the EWU-Washington game on Sept. 3 was
particularly tough for a pair of other former Eagles. Cornerback
Jesse Hoffman was with the Seattle Seahawks before being cut on
Aug. 29, just four days before Seattle hosted Jones and Oakland
(and the night before Eastern played Washington). Overbay (Tampa
Bay Buccaneers) was also cut that week, but was later assigned to
the practice squad for the Detroit Lions.

Current Eastern professionals in the CFL include linebacker J.C.
Sherritt (Edmonton Eskimos), who had 11 tackles in his regular
season debut and has been among the league leaders in tackles as a
rookie. Through 10 games, he had 58 tackles to rank second in the
CFL. He is teammates at Edmonton with quarterback Matt Nichols and
defensive end Greg Peach, who won the Buck Buchanan Award for
Eastern in 2008 – two years before Sherritt won the same
award. Also in the CFL are veteran defensive lineman Dario Romero
(Saskatchewan Roughriders) and veteran defensive back Ryan Phillips
(British Columbia Lions), as well as linebacker Shea Emry (Montreal
Alouettes).

Former Eagle
Tony Brooks on Commercial for State Farm
Insurance

Former Eastern all-time leading receiver Tony
Brooks is a State Farm Insurance agent, and he plays one
in a popular television commercial for State Farm. In it, he is
credited for buying a couple a live falcon because he saved the
family so much on insurance. The video may be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7ZpWFTUz34

Brooks lettered for Eastern from 1990-93 and is from Tacoma,
Wash., and Mount Tahoma High School. He was a third team NCAA
Football Championship Subdivision (then known as I-AA) All-American
in 1993. He finished his career with a record 167 receptions (now
fifth) for 3,013 yards and 26 touchdowns. He played on
Eastern’s 1992 squad that shared the Big Sky Conference title
with Idaho and advanced to the FCS Playoffs. He signed a contract
with Winnipeg of the CFL in 1994 before going into the insurance
business. Eastern selected him to its “100 for 100”
All-Time Team in 2008. In 1999, Dick Zornes selected him to the "Z"
Team consisting of 36 players that he felt were the best players
and made the largest contributions toward the 158 games Eastern won
in Zornes' 26-year association with Eagle Football.

MORE PLAYER NOTES

Five Eagles
Named as Co-Captains for 2011 Season

Five seniors who all earned preseason All-America honors have
been selected by their teammates as Eastern Washington
University’s co-captains for the 2011 football season, head
coach Beau Baldwin has announced.

The players include one returning captain, quarterback
Bo Levi Mitchell from Katy, Texas. The other two
offensive captains include center Chris Powers and
tackle Gabriel Jackson. Powers is from Black
Diamond, Wash., and graduated from Tahoma High School in 2007.
Jackson is from Tacoma, Wash., and graduated in 2007 from Mount
Tahoma HS.

Captains on defense are twins Matt and
Zach Johnson, who both graduated from Tumwater
(Wash.) High School in 2007. Matt is a four-year starter at strong
safety and Zach Johnson is a three-year starter at linebacker, with
his entire 2009 season wiped out with a blood clot in his leg.

“This team is full of a lot of good leaders,” said
Baldwin. “As we get into the early part of the season, we
know there are going to be some tough moments. Our goal in each
game on our schedule is to be focused and win, but even during
great weeks you are going to have a lot of moments of adversity and
when things are not going right. I think our good leaders are going
to develop into great leaders when we have to battle through some
things. I’m excited to see who emerges.”

All five players earned preseason All-America honors as selected
by various news services as they entered the season with a combined
131 starts in their careers. Matt Johnson led the way with 38
starts, followed by Powers with 27, Jackson and Zach Johnson with
26 apiece, and Mitchell with 14 in his first season after
transferring from SMU. The Johnson twins have started every game
they have played as Eagles.

Powers and Matt Johnson were both All-Americans last season when
they helped lead Eastern to the NCAA Division I Championship.
Mitchell was named as the Outstanding Player in the title game when
Eastern rallied for a 20-19 victory over Delaware.

Four Eagles on
Watch Lists for Top Honors

Eagle senior quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and
junior wide receiver Brandon Kaufman were selected
during the summer as two of the 20 players on the “Watch
List” for the 2011 Walter Payton Award given annually by The
Sports Network to the top player in the NCAA Football Championship
Subdivision.

A week later, safety Matt Johnson and defensive
tackle Renard Williams were named to the 20-player
preseason watch list for the 2011 Buck Buchanan Award given by The
Sports Network to the top defensive player in FCS. The Buchanan
Award was won last year by Eagle J.C.Sherritt, and two years before
that by his former Eagle teammate and current Edmonton Eskimos
teammate, Greg Peach.

Both awards are sponsored by Fathead.com.

The Payton Award will celebrate its 25th anniversary this season
and be presented at The Sports Network National Awards Banquet on
Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas, on the eve of the NCAA Division I
Championship Game. Last season, Eastern won the title in Frisco
with a come-from-behind 20-19 victory over Delaware. The Buchanan
Award is in its 17th season and will also be presented at
TSN’s national awards banquet on Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas.

Both watch lists will undergo revision during the 2011 season.
Ballots will be sent to a panel of about 200 sports information and
media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other
dignitaries after the regular season on Nov. 21. Three finalists
will be announced on Dec. 1 and invited to The Sports
Network/Fathead FCS Awards Presentation.

The Sports Network also presents the Jerry Rice and Eddie
Robinson awards which are sponsored by Fathead.com. The Robinson
Award (FCS coach of the year) is also celebrating its 25th
anniversary, while the Rice Award (FCS freshman of the year) is in
its inaugural season.

Former Eagle Erik Meyer, who is now the
starting quarterback for the Spokane Shock in the Arena Football
League, won the Payton Award in 2005. Jesse
Chatman (2001), Matt Nichols (2009) and
Taiwan Jones (2010) all finished fourth in the
voting for the prestigious award.

Mitchell and Kaufman hooked-up nine times for 120 yards and two
touchdowns in the FCS Championship Game, including the game-winning
TD with 2:47 left. Kaufman finished the 2010 season with 76
receptions for 1,214 yards and 15 scores, and all but one of his
grabs (a non-scoring 11-yard completion) came from Mitchell.

Kaufman received All-America accolades on the College Sporting
News “Sweet 63” All-America Team and on the Phil Steele
Publications All-America fourth team, as well as earning first-team
All-Big Sky Conference accolades. Kaufman, who had 23 receptions
for 294 yards and a touchdown as a freshman in 2009, was selected
as the NCAA Championship Subdivision Playoffs MVP by College
Sporting News.

Both Kaufman and Mitchell received Big Sky All-Academic
accolades in 2010, and Mitchell was an All-Big Sky Conference
honorable-mention selection. He then had a triumphant return to his
home state when he passed for 302 yards and three touchdowns to
earn Most Outstanding Player in the FCS Championship Game.

Mitchell transferred to Eastern from Southern Methodist in
spring 2010, and quickly won the starting job. He completed 59
percent of his passes to finish with 3,496 yards, a school-record
37 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions as a junior.

Mitchell was 13-2 as a starter in 2010, and six times Eastern
rallied for victories when trailing or tied in the fourth quarter.
And most of the time, it was Mitchell who led the Eagles back from
the depths of despair. In addition, Eastern was 3-0 in games when
All-America running back Taiwan Jones did not
play, and Mitchell had 11 touchdowns and 932 total passing yards in
those games, with 11 touchdown drives of at least 63 yards.

Johnson, a 6-foot-2, 220-pounder who graduated from Tumwater
(Wash.) High School in 2007, entered the 2011 season with the most
starting experience on EWU’s entire roster with 38 career
starts. He entered his senior season with 289 tackles, 15
interceptions and 13 passes broken up in his career, including 105
tackles, five interceptions and eight passes broken up in 2010.

A year ago, Johnson was selected to the College Sporting News
“Sweet 63” All-America Team, and was a second-team
selection on the Phil Steele Publications All-America squad and a
third-team pick on The Sports Network’s A-A team. He also
earned first-team All-Big Sky Conference honors after starting all
15 Eastern games at safety.

Williams also earned All-America honors from College Sporting
News in 2010 and is a two-time first team All-Big Sky Conference
selection. He had 54 total tackles with 6 1/2 sacks and four forced
fumbles, as a junior after finishing with 9 1/2 sacks as a
sophomore.

Featuring his signature celebratory salute following a big play
he makes for Eastern, Williams entered the 2011 season with 18
sacks in his career to rank 10th in school history. Constantly
drawing double teams from opposing teams, he entered his senior
campaign with 116 tackles in his 38-game career (29 as a starter),
including 40 for losses totaling 204 yards.

Kaufman
Gathers In Trio of Game-Winners in 2010

Brandon Kaufman proved to be Eastern’s
go-to receiver as a sophomore in the 2010 season, catching a
team-leading 76 passes to rank as the fifth-most in school history.
His catches were good for 1,214 yards (fifth in EWU history) and 15
touchdowns (second behind the school-record of 19 set by Eric
Kimble in 2004). His TD total was the second-most in the FCS as he
caught a TD pass in 11 of 15 games in the 2010 season, including
EWU’s last seven regular season games.

In his career, Kaufman has 128 receptions for 1,881 yards and 17
touchdowns, and is nearing Eastern’s top 10 all-time lists in
all three categories.

He had caught a pass in 18-straight games before his streak was
broken versus North Dakota State on Dec. 11, 2010, as the last time
he failed to catch a pass was on Oct. 10, 2009, in the third game
of his career. In addition, he had fourth-quarter game-winners
against Northern Arizona, Southern Utah and Delaware, and had a
game-tying catch with 3:08 left in EWU’s come-from-behind win
over Northern Colorado.

Kaufman was selected as the FCS Playoffs MVP by College Sporting
News, thanks in part to his nine catches for 120 yards and two
touchdowns in a 20-19 win over Delaware in the championship game,
in which EWU rallied from a 19-0 deficit. He had a 22-yard TD catch
with 16:48 left in the game for EWU’s first score, then had a
championship-clinching 11-yard scoring grab with 2:47 remaining. He
caught eight passes for 135 yards against Villanova in the
semifinals of the FCS Playoffs, including a 76-yard touchdown catch
from Bo Levi Mitchell in the third quarter. Their
76-yard connection equaled the 30th-longest pass play in school
history. He also had four receptions for 37 yards in the
second-round triumph over Southeast Missouri State.

He finished his sophomore season ranked 25th in the FCS in
receiving yards per game (80.9), was 45th in receptions per game
(5.1) and his 15 touchdown catches were the second-most in the FCS.
Kaufman had six 100-yard receiving performances in 2010, with those
coming against Montana on Sept. 18 (five catches for 119 yards),
Weber State on Oct. 2 (five catches for 138 yards), Northern
Arizona on Oct. 9 (five catches for 117 yards), Southern Utah on
Nov. 13 (nine catches for 129 yards), Villanova on Dec. 17 (eight
catches for 135 yards) and Delaware on Jan. 7 (nine catches for 120
yards)

Against Southern Utah on Nov. 13, he caught a career-high nine
passes for 129 yards with a long of 43, and had touchdown catches
of 25 and 24 yards that were of the “how did he make that
catch?” variety. His latter TD catch came with 3:39 left and
provided the winning points in Eastern’s 31-24 victory. In
the next game against Idaho State, he scored EWU’s first two
touchdowns in the 34-7 victory with TD catches of 10 and 30
yards.

Among his three catches at Portland State on Oct. 30 was a
15-yard touchdown grab. He had just four catches for 34 yards
against Sacramento State on Oct. 23, but he had a 17-yard touchdown
to start the scoring and a game-winning 6-yard scoring grab with 33
seconds to go in the game. One game prior, he had a five-catch,
94-yard performance against Northern Colorado, which included a
4-yard touchdown pass with 3:08 left that knotted the score at 28.
He is a 2009 graduate of Heritage High School in the Denver, Colo.,
area, just a short distance from the game played in Greeley. His
family was at the game in force, reportedly purchasing 80 tickets
for the game.

Having Started
Every Game in Their Careers, Twins Produced Big Numbers During 2010
Winning Streak

Safety Matt Johnson and his twin brother
Zach Johnson, a starting linebacker, had big
performances in the last 11 games of the 2010 season. In those 11
contests -- all victories -- they combined for 189 tackles, five
interceptions and 11 passes broken up. In the NCAA Division I
Championship game, Zach Johnson had 15 tackles with a pair of
sacks, and Matt Johnson added nine tackles and a pass broken
up.

They have started every game they have played in their careers,
with Matt up to 43 and Zach now with 30. Matt now ranks second in
school history in interceptions with 17, and he is just one
interception away from the school record of 18 set by Mike Richter
from 1971-75. He is currently tied with former NFL 10-year veteran
Kurt Schulz (EWU letter winner 1988-91) and long-time Canadian
Football League standout Jackie Kellogg (1990-93), who both have 17
each. Johnson is also only nine interception return yards from the
record of 219 held by Schulz, and his six career forced fumbles is
tied for the school record along with J.C. Sherritt (2007-10) and
Chris Scott (1994-97).

Matt has 324 tackles in his career to move into sixth all-time
at Eastern, and had five interceptions in 2010 to help Eastern lead
the FCS with 26. He had 105 tackles (19th in school history), eight
passes broken up, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in the
2010 season.

Zach Johnson finished second on the team with 134 tackles (sixth
in school history), and also had 3 1/2 sacks, five passes broken
up, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. Zach currently has
260 career tackles to rank 10th all-time at Eastern, and his
average of 8.7 tackles per game (fourth all-time in EWU history) is
slightly better than the 7.5 average for his brother.

The Johnson twins are both 2007 graduates of Tumwater, Wash.,
High School, but a blood clot in Zach’s leg sidelined him for
the entire 2009 season.

As freshmen in 2008, the brothers combined for 179 tackles to
rank 1-2 on the team, with Zach finishing with 96 and a team-high
seven passes broken up, and Matt closing the year with 83 tackles
and a team-leading four interceptions. Both players earned
honorable mention All-Big Sky accolades in 2008, and Matt repeated
on that squad in 2009. Matt earned his first Big Sky Conference
Defensive Player of the Week honor after tying the Big Sky
Conference record with four interceptions in 47-10 win over
Portland State on Oct. 31, 2009, in the “Showdown on the
Sound” at Qwest Field in Seattle, Wash.

Mitchell Has
Triumphant Return to Texas

Transfer Bo Levi Mitchell had a triumphant
return to his home state, passing for 302 yards and three
touchdowns to earn Most Outstanding Player accolades in leading
Eastern to a come-from-behind 20-19 victory over Delaware in the
NCAA Division I Championship Game on Jan. 7, 2011, in Frisco,
Texas. Mitchell is from Katy, Texas, and transferred from Southern
Methodist University following the 2009 season. SMU is located in
Dallas, about 25 minutes from Frisco, while his hometown of Katy is
about five hours away. He completed 29-of-43 passes and directed
EWU on scoring drives of 80 (5 plays), 89 (14 plays) and 63 yards
(8 plays).

His three touchdowns against Delaware gave him 37 for the season
and helped him break the single-season school record of 34 set by
Matt Nichols in 2007. Mitchell also broke school records for
attempts (505) and completions (300).For the season, Mitchell
completed 59.4 percent of his passes for 3,496 yards (fifth in
school history), a school-record 37 touchdowns, 15 interceptions
and a passing efficiency rating of 135.8. In NCAA Football
Championship Subdivision statistics, he finished ranked 20th in
passing offense (233.1 yards per game), 26th in total offense
(236.2) and 26th in efficiency (135.8).

Despite playing just two seasons at Eastern, Mitchell already
ranks fifth in school history for career passing yards (5,119), and
is also fifth in touchdown passes (47), fourth in completions
(443), sixth in attempts (741) and sixth in passing efficiency
rating (132.3).

Eastern was 3-0 in the 2010 season when it was forced to play
without All-America running back Taiwan Jones, and
Mitchell was impressive in all three games. He completed a combined
68 percent of his passes (79-of-117) in those three games for a
passing efficiency rating of 162.0. Most importantly, in those
games he led Eastern on 11 touchdown drives of at least 63
yards.

Besides the Delaware game when EWU had to play without Jones,
one game earlier Mitchell completed 27-of-38 passes for 292 yards,
no interceptions and four touchdowns in a semifinal win over
Villanova on Dec. 17. He directed Eastern on touchdown drives of 63
yards (5 plays), 43 yards (8 plays), 80 (2 plays) and 63 yards (12
plays).

Earlier in the season without Jones, Eastern scored 21-straight
second-half points after falling behind 17-14 to surge past Weber
State 35-24 in a crucial Big Sky Conference football game. Mitchell
passed for a career-high 337 yards and four touchdowns and the
defense had three interceptions that led to scores. He led Eastern
on touchdown drives of 66 yards (9 plays), 65 yards (13 plays), 80
yards (6 plays), 68 yards (9 plays) and 67 yards (4 plays).
Mitchell was 23-of-36 as he helped the team to leads after all four
quarters. His final three scoring drives came during a 21-0 scoring
run in the second half that turned a 17-14 deficit into a 35-17
advantage. He completed 14-of-19 passes in the first half and
9-of-17 in the second half.

Mitchell had just 38 yards through 37 1/2 minutes of EWU’s
playoff victory over North Dakota State on Dec. 11. But he was
5-of-13 for 78 yards during a 13-play, 90-yard drive to knot the
game with 23 seconds to play on a 4-yard touchdown pass to
Nicholas Edwards. He converted two plays on fourth
down on the drive and also had a 40-yard pass to Edwards. Mitchell,
who was 13-of-32 for 141 yards, two interceptions and three
touchdowns in the game, provided the game-winning points with a
25-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Hart on the first
play of overtime,

A Year Later,
Wager Continues Between Minnerly and Hamlin

A friendly wager between teammates is now in year two, but with
one less competitor. Safety Jeff Minnerly,
linebacker Ronnie Hamlin and linebacker
Zach Johnson challenged each other to see who
could go the longest without cutting their hair.

After the season ended, Zach cut his hair -- a short-cropped
haircut like his twin brother Matt Johnson -- and
dropped out of the competition, leaving Minnerly and Hamlin to
determine a winner. A year later, neither seems ready to give in,
and both have grown hair to their shoulders. Minnerly has also
sported a “Grizzly Adams” full beard at times in the
last year, although facial hair was not included in the wager.

Initially, the wager helped make it easier for people to tell
the identical twins apart in the 2010 season. While Zach grew his
hair out during the 2010 season, Matt continued to sport a
short-cropped haircut as both players had for their entire careers
to that point. Even their jersey numbers can be confusing, having
changed their numbers in 2009 after wearing entirely different
numbers as freshmen in 2008. Then, in the middle of the 2009
season, Matt moved from No. 5 to No. 10 as a tribute to his
brother, who was lost for the season with a blood clot in his leg.
They returned to their normal numbers in the 2010 and 2011 seasons,
with Matt wearing No. 5 and Zach utilizing No. 10.

Gibbs First to
Letter in Both Football and Basketball Since Bob Picard in
1973

After lettering in basketball for Eastern Washington in the
2009-10 season, Alden Gibbs switched to football
and lettered on special teams for the Eagles in 2010. Now a
starting cornerback, Gibbs is the first Eagle to letter in both
sports since Bob Picard in the early 1970’s.

Picard lettered in football in 1968, 1969, 1971 and 1972, and
also lettered in basketball in the 1972-73 season. Picard held
Eastern’s career receiving record for 21 years with 166
catches (now sixth) that were good for 2,373 yards and 19
touchdowns. His receiving record was broken by Tony Brooks in 1993.
Picard had his No. 84 jersey retired, was inducted into the Eastern
Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003 and was selected to the "100
for 100" All-Time Football Team in 2008 to help commemorate the
100th year of football at Eastern. In 27 career basketball games,
Picard averaged 3.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists. He went
on to play three seasons (54 career games) in the National Football
League for the Philadelphia Eagles, and ended his career at the
first training camp of the expansion Seattle Seahawks in 1976.

Several other Eagles have played both football and basketball
since Picard, but none have lettered in both. Wide receiver Jerrold
Jackson lettered in football from 1993-96, and played one minute
for the hoop squad in the 1995-96 season. All-America quarterback
Harry Leons lettered in football for three seasons from 1995-97,
and was also on the basketball roster for a short time but did not
play. Henry Bekkering lettered in basketball for Eastern in the
2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, and was also on the football roster in
2003. He played in four football games that season as a
non-lettering squad member, and averaged 56.5 yards on 27 kickoffs,
while routinely kicking the ball into the end zone.

Ena Enters
Second Full Season at End After 2009 Move to
Linebacker

One of Eastern’s most versatile players, sophomore
defensive end Paul Ena made big plays early and
often in EWU’s 50-17 victory over Portland State on Oct. 30,
2010.

On PSU’s first possession of the game, he had two
quarterback hurries, then recovered a fumble on the ensuing third
down play on one of six three-and-outs (plus a four-down turnover
on downs) for the Eagles. Three of those three-and-outs came on
PSU’s opening three possessions as Eastern jumped out to a
14-0 lead, and at one point had a 183-5 advantage in total offense.
Later in the half, he had a 13-yard tackle for loss that led to a
punt and a 65-yard scoring run by Taiwan Jones that gave EWU a 28-3
advantage. Ena also combined with J.C. Sherritt for another tackle
for loss on that possession, and finished with four tackles in the
game, including 2 1/2 for loss.

After starting the season at linebacker, he began his second
tour of duty at defensive end for the Eagles, and he started at
that position against Weber State on Oct. 2. For the season, Ena
had 55 tackles with 8 1/2 for loss including 2 1/2 sacks. He also
had five quarterback hurries, an interception and four fumble
recoveries. Two of his fumble recoveries came against Villanova on
Dec. 17 in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs.

As a true freshman in 2009, Ena played as a backup defensive
end, then started at middle linebacker in the regular season finale
against Northern Arizona (11/21/09) and finished with a team-high
16 tackles. He started again in the NCAA Football Championship
Subdivision Playoffs against Stephen F. Austin (11/28/09) and had
20 tackles to rank as the sixth-most in recorded school history. He
finished the season fifth on the team with a total of 63
tackles.

He was Eastern’s fourth player to be on EWU’s depth
chart as a starter at middle linebacker in 2009. Returning starter
Zach Johnson did not play because of a blood clot
that developed following knee surgery during the summer, then Kyle
Wilkins suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice before
Eastern’s seventh game. Tyler Washburn
started four games until he also suffered a knee injury.

Ena was a linebacker at Inglemoor High School in Seattle,
finishing his senior season in fall 2008 with 162 total tackles (65
solo, 97 assisted) and two sacks. His father Tali Ena was a
standout running back at Washington State University and went on to
play for the Seattle Seahawks.

Jerry Ceja
Makes Dreams Come True for Defensive Tackles

Thanks to huge plays made by sophomore defensive end
Jerry Ceja, Eastern defensive tackles have some
great memories. And those plays helped the Eagles win two games
during its trek to the national title.

A sophomore from Aurora, Colo., Ceja made the first start of his
career at Northern Colorado on Oct. 16 and he had the team’s
defensive play of the game. He forced a fumble on a sack late in
the game that was picked up by teammate Tyler Jolley and returned
17 yards. That gave EWU the ball 39 yards from the end zone and led
to EWU’s winning touchdown with 41 seconds to play in the
35-28 victory.

Earlier in the season, Ceja forced a fumble on a sack on the
final play of the game that was returned 34 yards for a score by
Renard Williams and secured EWU’s 36-27
victory over the Grizzlies.

For the season, Ceja had 23 tackles with five sacks, three
forced fumbles and three quarterback hurries. Two of his sacks and
a hurry came in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs against
Villanova. He is a 2009 graduate of Grandview High School in
Aurora, just a short distance from the Oct. 16 game played in
Greeley, Colo. His older brother, Dominique Ceja, is an offensive
lineman for Northern Colorado,

Blocking
Beaumonte

Eastern junior running back Darriell Beaumonte
was once a blocking fullback in Eastern’s offense. But the
first-team All-Big Sky Conference special teams selection did a
different kind of blocking in the 2010 season.

After leading 28-10 at intermission against Portland State on
Oct. 30, the Eagles turned a blocked punt by Beaumonte into a
recovery for a touchdown by T.J. Lee to increase
the advantage to 18. Beaumonte, a 2007 graduate of Clover Park High
School in Tacoma, Wash., also had a huge special teams play in
EWU’s 36-27 victory over Montana on Sept. 18. He blocked a
punt that he returned himself six yards for a score to wipe out
Montana’s last lead of the day. It was EWU’s first
blocked punt returned for a TD since 2004.

Also a kickoff and punt coverage special teams standout,
Beaumonte has been credited with 26 tackles in his career. He had
three in 2008, eight in 2009 and 15 in 2010, as he earned
first-team All-Big Sky Conference honors and was selected as the
team’s Special Teams Player of the Year.

He was a fullback in 2008 as a redshirt freshman, then proved to
be more valuable with the ball in his hands and moved to running
back the following season. As EWU’s backup running back
behind All-American Taiwan Jones, he rushed for
135 yards and a touchdown in 2009 and had 219 yards and a pair of
rushing TDs in 2010. When Jones was sidelined because of an injury
on Oct. 2 versus Weber State, he responded with a 78-yard rushing
performance, scoring once on a rush and another on a TD reception
in EWU’s 35-24 win.

In his career, Beaumonte has rushed for 379 yards and three
touchdowns, and has caught 16 passes for 132 yards and one more
score. So far in the 2011 season, he has five tackles on special
teams.

Notes On Other
Eagles

Head Coach Beau Baldwin: Baldwin is in his
fourth season as Eastern Washington's head coach. After guiding the
Eagles to a 6-5 record in 2008, he led EWU to the FCS Playoffs with
an 8-4 record in 2009 and a 13-2 mark in the 2010 season that
included a co-championship with Montana State in the Big Sky.
Baldwin served as the head coach at Central Washington in 2007,
leading the Wildcats to a 10-3 record and the NCAA Division II
quarterfinals. He also was the offensive coordinator and
quarterbacks coach for EWU from 2003-06. In a short amount of time,
Baldwin has taken a perennial playoff participant and honed it into
a national champion. Ironically, many observers didn't even have
EWU ranked as a top 25 team before the 2010 season began, but the
Eagles finished both the regular season and playoffs ranked No.
1.

Center Chris Powers: Powers has started 31
career games -- the most among all Eastern players on offense. He
represents the 17th time an EWU offensive lineman has earned
All-America accolades in the last 18 years (1993-2010), with
Eastern offensive linemen winning 19 first-team All-Big Sky honors
in that same time period. Eastern finished the 2010 season ranked
22nd in the FCS in total offense (397.1 yards per game), as well as
rankings of 26th in passing (241.0), 49th in rushing (156.1) and
18th in scoring (31.5).

Safety Jeff Minnerly: The junior free safety, a
2008 graduate of Ferris High School in Spokane, Wash., was awarded
the “Elite 88” Award by the National Collegiate
Athletic Association. He received the award for having the highest
cumulative grade point average among the participants in the 2010
NCAA Division I Football Championship Game at Pizza Hut Park in
Frisco, Texas. Eastern won that game 20-19, as Minnerly finished
with two passes broken up and two tackles. Minnerly was a 4.0
student at Ferris where he excelled in football and basketball, and
is currently a finance major at EWU with a 3.83 grade point
average. Earlier in the 2010 season, Minnerly was honored as
an honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference selection and was also
chosen for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District
VIII squad as selected by members of the College Sports Information
Directors Association (CoSIDA). He was selected to the Big Sky
Conference All-Academic team for the second time in 2010 and was
selected as EWU’s Scholar-Athlete for the month of December.
He had 48 tackles, three interceptions and four passes broken up
for the year.

Kicker Kevin Miller: The Eagles are redshirting
the strong-legged Miller, who finished 2-of-3 kicking field goals
for the Eagles in the 2010 season and also handled kickoffs for
EWU. He booted a 48-yarder in the third quarter of EWU’s 34-7
win over Idaho State on Nov. 20 to equal the 23rd-longest in school
history. He also made a 44-yarder at Portland State on Oct. 30 and
had a 44-yarder blocked against North Dakota State on Dec. 11. A
2009 graduate of Centennial High School in Portland, Ore., he also
averaged 58.7 yards on six kickoffs against ISU and its prolific
kickoff returner Tavoy Moore, who had five returns for 93 yards
with a long of 38. ISU started possessions inside its own 20 four
times, with an average field position of its own 24-yard line. He
finished the 2010 season averaging 64.2 yards on 81 kickoffs with
15 touchbacks. As a true freshman in 2009, he averaged 63.0 yard
per kick with 14 touchbacks on 47 kickoffs.

SERIES NOTES

Series
History

Eastern leads the 28-game series 18-10, including victories the
last four times the schools have met and six of the last seven. The
lone loss for EWU in the last six games was a 44-36 home loss in
2006, but Eastern won 28-13 at home in 2008 and 21-14 in 2010 in
Cheney. Eastern is 8-3 all-time against NAU in Cheney, 2-1 in
Spokane and 8-6 in Flagstaff. The Eagles
have won the last three meetings in Flagstaff, averaging nearly 48
points per game (49-45 in 2009, 52-24 in 2007 and 42-14 in
2005).

The 13th-ranked Eastern Washington University football team
overcame five turnovers to hold off Northern Arizona 21-14 in a Big
Sky Conference game Oct. 9, 2010, at Roos Field in Cheney,
Wash.

Eastern out-gained NAU 354-317 in total offense, but lost the
turnover battle 5-3 as NAU had 30 more offensive plays than the
Eagles and had a nearly 10 minute advantage in possession time.

“I am always happy to get a win,” said a relieved
Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin. “To be 3-1 (in the Big Sky)
at this point is a pretty solid thing after going through the
stretch we’ve gone through. Yes, it was ugly -- as ugly as it
could be -- and we definitely have a lot of work to do. Both sides
of the ball have pride in the way they play.”

Senior linebacker J.C. Sherritt led Eastern’s defense with
16 tackles, and also had an interception, a sack and a quarterback
hurry.

“We found a way to win and that’s huge,” said
Baldwin. “We’ll improve and learn from this because a
lot of times you can’t win doing the things we did
today.”

Eastern’s defense stepped up big in the second half,
stopping NAU on downs in its last three possessions. On the last
possession of the game for the Lumberjacks, Eastern’s
Zach Johnson and Tyler Washburn
made a stop on a fourth-and-12 play at the EWU 38-yard line.

Johnson also had 11 tackles and a pair of tackles for loss, and
his twin brother Matt Johnson added nine tackles
and a pass broken up. Paul Ena had a sack and
Artise Gauldin and Jeff Minnerly each had
interceptions. Minnerly’s pick turned into an EWU
touchdown.

“I’m proud of the defense for stepping up,”
said Baldwin. “I’m still proud of the entire team for
staying together and finding a way to win. But our defense was put
in a tough spot a number of times and they found a way to get
stops. That was great.”

Eastern lost three fumbles, including a pair by Walter Payton
Award candidate Taiwan Jones. One of those was recovered for a
touchdown in the fourth quarter by NAU.

“Turnovers are such a pet peeve of mine,” said
Baldwin. “I harp on it and stress it, and we work on it in
practice. So when we have a game like this where we are turning it
over, it frustrates me. There were moments where we moved the ball
well, but overall we didn’t pay the type of football we need
to in order to win a championship.”

The Eastern Washington University football team let an 18-point
lead slip through its grasp, but scored the winning touchdown with
3:30 left in the game to conclude the regular season with a 49-45
Big Sky Conference victory over Northern Arizona Nov. 21, 2010, at
the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Eastern was out-gained in total yards 747-487, but won the
important turnover battle 4-0. The Eagles led 28-10 and 35-17 in
the first half, and 42-27 late in the game, however, NAU scored
three-straight times to take a 45-42 lead with 5:20 left.

But Eastern scored on a five-play, 74-yard drive, with senior
quarterback Matt Nichols passing 13 yards to Nathan Overbay for the
winning score -- Overbay’s 12th TD catch of the season. The
defense did the rest, stopping NAU on a fourth-and-three play at
the EWU 32-yard line with 34 seconds to play.

Nichols completed 22-of-33 passes for 408 yards, no
interceptions and five touchdowns as EWU wrapped-up a
fourth-straight victory and a possible berth in the NCAA Football
Championship Subdivision Playoffs. Nichols became only the second
player in league history to pass for more than 12,000 career
yards.

“It was a battle to the end,” said Eagle head
coach Beau Baldwin. “We were playing on a
good surface and both offenses got on a roll. Sometimes you play
them 16-0 and sometimes you get in shootouts, but I’m proud
of our team for finding a way.

“In the second half it started getting away from us, but
we kept fighting,” he added. “But both sides of the
ball won the game for us -- we went down and scored and then we got
the final stop. Both were huge.”

Northern Arizona finished with 574 yards through the air and 173
rushing, while the Eagles finished with 486 total yards. The
Eagles, however, forced four turnovers, including an 85-yard
interception return for a touchdown by Makai Borden.

“As a team we figured out a way to win it,”
said Baldwin. “I’m proud of everybody. It wasn’t
perfect, and a lot of times it’s not perfect when you play a
good opponent. They were a much better opponent than 5-5 coming
into this game.”

Nichols had plenty of help in leading the Eagles to the win.
Running back Taiwan Jones finished with 274 all-purpose yards,
including 115 rushing to go over the 1,000-yard mark for the
season. He also caught a pair of passes for 82 yards and returned
four kickoffs for 77 more.

Jones scored Eastern’s first touchdown on an 80-yard
catch-and-run from Nichols, then scored on a 71-yard run in the
third quarter to give EWU a 42-27 lead.

Prior to that, Nichols had touchdown passes of 8, 10 and 18
yards to freshman redshirt Nicholas Edwards -- his
first scores of the season. His third TD catch gave EWU a 35-17
lead with 54 seconds left in the second quarter.

Tony Davis led Eastern with seven catches for 132 yards,
including a key 22-yard catch to start the game-winning drive.

True freshman Paul Ena, a defensive end until
practice the previous week when he moved to middle linebacker as an
injury replacement, had a game-high 16 tackles. Safety Matt
Johnson and linebacker J.C. Sherritt each finished with
15. Sherritt upped his season total to 154 tackles, breaking the
previous single season record of 151 set by Greg Belzer in
2000.